Chapter 1662: The Mountain and Sea Great Dao Appears
Chapter 1662: The Mountain and Sea Great Dao Appears
Light abruptly vanished, and an endless darkness enveloped the Life and Death Realm.
From a treacherous abyss, countless sludge-like tentacles seemed to emerge, tightly ensnaring Ziyi's colossal hands.
Fiery clouds, stretching for thousands upon thousands of miles, slashed toward the abyss like a keen sword. Ziyi's cry of shock and rage flashed for an instant before being drowned out by an unending series of violent explosions.
...
As the Five Fellow Calamity Venerables moved to intercept Ziyi from the Other Shore, the entire Life and Death Realm began to undergo an inexplicable transformation.
Myriad rivers flowing in parallel, as if drawn by some invisible force, surged upward, their heads and tails connecting to form a series of closed circles.
In an instant, they wove themselves into a gemstone that radiated a pure, yellow light!
Veiled by a mystical rhythm, the clash of weapons from the outside world slowly faded. Eight figures stood guard around the central yellow gemstone, and though they appeared motionless, flashes of light and shadow revealed they were traversing countless mountains and seas in the blink of an eye!
"I never expected another Great Dao to appear within the Mountain and Sea. It was completely unforeseen and led to our premature exposure..."
"The comparison of the paintings is nearly complete. We cannot afford to abandon it now. If the situation becomes truly critical, I will use Empty Thought Construction to create a duplicate Life and Death Realm and reveal myself as a decoy. I will buy you time," the white-haired youth declared with a solemn expression.
None of the others objected. "Rest assured, we will not forget your contribution."
The white-haired youth shook his head with a smile. "I am already a dead man, reborn from imagination. To have this extra experience is more than I could ask for. If I can help you all achieve your Great Dao, then this life will not have been in vain."
After a moment of silence, the eight figures once again focused their gazes on the yellow gemstone at the center.
Having reached a safe location, the lines forming the gemstone unfurled, transforming back into myriad flowing streams of light.
Within those streams, the living beings of the imagined possibilities seemed to have been frozen, losing all concept of time's passage.
They remained oblivious to the great upheavals that had occurred in the outside world.
After receiving a notice from the venerables that all was safe, life soon returned to normal.
Xing Fu was among them.
However, he would occasionally glance beyond the borders of the Life and Death Realm, his expression subtle.
"I can no longer see the landscape of the Mountain and Sea. The venerables must have sealed it off."
"I just wonder how long it will hold."
Regarding the constant threat of exposure, Xing Fu felt not the slightest fear. Instead, a trace of anticipation flickered within him.
"The calamity of the Life and Death Realm must be far more complex than the venerables described. Otherwise, even with Ziyi at the gates, they wouldn't have fled at the first sign of a thorough search. There must be something within that even the Saints of the Other Shore covet..."
The answer was obvious.
The Mountain and Sea Great Dao!
"Their method of manifesting the Mountain and Sea Great Dao through conceptual comparison and copying is likely real. However, they've been concealing the true progress!"
Xing Fu looked up at the formless yellow gemstone suspended above the myriad flowing rivers of light.
"Whether intentionally or not, actively or passively, every time the so-called 'awakened ones' within the Life and Death Realm, myself included, perform a single act of copying, it is likely recorded and counted towards the total comparison progress."
"But the venerables weren't lying. Once the progress is complete and the Great Dao of Longevity appears, who becomes its master within the Life and Death Realm will depend entirely on one's individual fate and fortune."
"Snatching it, seizing it... both are useless."
"The reason they don't publicize this information..."
"...is that knowing too much unsettles the mind, making the Empty Thought copying difficult."
It took Xing Fu a long time to forcefully suppress the tumultuous waves of thought crashing within him.
In truth, this discovery changed nothing about his life.
Even if the progress was at 99.99%, until it was truly complete, it was no different from zero.
He didn't know when he would finally glimpse the form of the unknown Mountain and Sea Great Dao, but the pursuit from the Other Shore was a real and present danger, very likely to descend upon them again.
Xing Fu keenly sensed that the overall atmosphere in the Life and Death Realm was slowly changing.
This was especially true for the awakened ones.
They no longer possessed their former focus, and the efficiency of their Empty Thought Construction suffered as a result.
"They're already distracted. Their ability to handle pressure is a bit too poor."
Noticing this, Xing Fu felt a strange sense of puzzlement.
Logically, these awakened ones all possessed transcendent strength.
Their mental fortitude should not be so fragile.
"Unless..."
"They were artificially elevated, not true transcendents who grew into their power."
For the first time, Xing Fu's attention fell upon his colleagues.
"Those whose minds are unaffected haven't noticed anything amiss."
"But those whose minds are in turmoil..."
"It's as if their Empty Thought Constructions, while incredibly realistic, are not truly real!"
After an unknown number of years of accumulation, Xing Fu had developed his own unique understanding of Empty Thought Construction.
Now, upon careful inspection, he finally discovered the secret.
"Furthermore, this sense of disharmony, of an illusory image that doesn't belong..."
Xing Fu frowned in recollection. Following a faint sense of familiarity, his thoughts suddenly landed on the young, white-haired venerable he had seen earlier.
"Is he also one of the creations of Empty Thought Construction?"
"Has the Empty Thought technique of the Life and Death Calamity already reached a level where the fake is indistinguishable from the real?"
Xing Fu was immediately skeptical.
Just as the Mountain and Sea Great Daos were drawn to each other, so too would painters feel a sense of mutual appreciation.
Xing Fu could now be considered a novice in Empty Thought Construction.
Yet, he did not feel that the venerables of the Five Fellow Calamities were much more skilled in this art than he was.
Though he had no concrete evidence, only a strange suspicion in his heart, Xing Fu was almost certain he was on the right track.
Xing Fu himself didn't know where this confidence came from.
"Perhaps it's the talent I've displayed in the divine art of Empty Thought Construction?"
"That white-haired youth, though a conceptual creation, is treated as an equal by the Five Fellow Calamity Venerables and Ming Dao Xian..."
"If I put myself in their shoes, would I treat a creation of my own imagination as an equal? Absolutely not!"
A glimmer shone in Xing Fu's eyes; he already had the answer.
"He was created by someone else through Empty Thought Construction. And left behind as an ally."
"As for who..."
"The answer is also obvious. It must be the Mountain Sea Traveler who taught the Five Fellow Calamity Venerables!"
In a flash of thought, Xing Fu had already deduced a part of the truth.
"Empty Thought can turn illusion into reality, and it must be generated from one's own familiar memories. If that white-haired youth was conceptually manifested by the Mountain Sea Traveler, then his original identity..."
"Comes from the End of the Mountain and Sea?"
Xing Fu couldn't help but recall the words of the Five Fellow Calamity Venerables.
"He himself is not the originator of this divine art. Its true origin lies with the last prodigy among us cultivators, from the final moments of the Mountain and Sea."
"...His talent was so immense that it even surpassed that of the Mountain Sea Traveler."
Xing Fu nodded to himself. "Perhaps it is precisely because his original identity is so extraordinary that the venerables treat this conceptual creation with such respect."
He desperately wanted to know the specific circumstances of the End of the Mountain and Sea from the white-haired youth's memories.
But ever since the attack by Ziyi from the Other Shore, the venerables of the Life and Death Realm had rarely shown themselves in public.
It seemed they were busy working together on something.
Xing Fu could only let his imagination wander.
Even after uncovering some of the secrets of the Life and Death Realm, Xing Fu kept them buried in his heart, not revealing a single word to anyone.
In the time that followed, he continued to silently and unceasingly perform Empty Thought Construction, adding his part to the progress of ultimately depicting the Mountain and Sea Great Dao.
Approximately another stretch of time passed, one that felt even longer than all the time before.
On this day, Xing Fu, having just completed a session of copying, felt his heart stir with an inexplicable emotion.
Then, a line of tears unexpectedly streamed down his face.
Xing Fu wiped them away, utterly shocked. Doubt flooded his mind. "What is happening? My mind instinctively feels grief, and I can't stop the tears."
"This should be an anomaly that occurs when a close blood relative perishes. But all my kin died long ago in the calamity that destroyed the Immortal Realm. What on earth..."
Xing Fu was completely baffled.
He wanted to investigate further but had no way to do so.
In the end, he could only bury this question in the deepest corner of his heart.
After that, an unknown number of years passed.
The final completion of the copying of the Mountain and Sea Great Dao seemed to be just a sliver away.
But that sliver was like the chasm between heaven and earth.
No matter how persistently the beings of the Life and Death Realm worked, they could never seem to fill it.
However, as the "progress bar" neared completion, corresponding changes occurred within the Life and Death Realm.
The most significant was the change in the myriad flowing rivers of light.
They were originally creations of Empty Thought, and Xing Fu could see through their illusory nature at a glance.
But now, they were almost indistinguishable from the real thing!
Even with Xing Fu's mastery of the Dao of Empty Thought, he had to examine them carefully to discern the subtle differences between them and a true possibility in the Mountain and Sea.
Anyone not versed in this art would surely be unable to detect their "conceptual nature."
"No longer facing the threat of sudden annihilation, that group from the Guangwu Xinghai are living more freely and leisurely than ever. They've almost forgotten about me," Xing Fu's expression grew distant for a moment.
Besides these conceptual possibilities, the yellow gemstone suspended above the flowing rivers had also undergone a tremendous transformation.
It was still not in a state of ultimate conceptual reality.
Instead, it existed in a state between reality and falsehood.
When not looking at it, it was merely composed of myriad illusory shadows.
But upon careful observation, every facet of the yellow gemstone was so vivid and lifelike.
Indistinguishable from a real object.
This superposition of real and false states fascinated Xing Fu even more.
He often gazed up at it, and a feeling suddenly arose in his heart.
The day of its true transformation was not far off.
Xing Fu's premonitions were always accurate.
Three thousand five hundred and sixty-nine years later.
On this day, Xing Fu's copying was inexplicably interrupted.
For someone like Xing Fu, whose skill in the Empty Thought divine art had reached a state of perfection, this was something that should have been impossible.
But it truly happened.
Because...
Instantly realizing what was happening, Xing Fu's body began to tremble violently with uncontrollable excitement.
"All the lines that felt disharmonious have been eliminated."
"The Mountain and Sea Great Dao, hidden within the void, has finally been sketched out by us."
Like the countless beings within the myriad flowing rivers of light, Xing Fu raised his head, looking at the perfect, brilliant yellow gemstone above.
One by one, figures appeared around the gemstone.
It was the venerables of the Life and Death Realm, who had not been seen for a long time.
However, there were not eight figures, but only the Five Fellow Calamity Venerables remaining.
Ming Dao Xian and the other venerables were nowhere to be found.
Under the watchful eyes of all, the yellow gemstone—a successful recreation achieved through the painstaking efforts of countless painters in the Life and Death Realm over innumerable years—began to gradually disintegrate.
A seemingly endless flood of lines surged forth from within.
They grew denser and denser, like countless brushes sketching out a Great Dao that should not exist in the Mountain and Sea.
With the appearance of the Mountain and Sea Great Dao, the Life and Death Realm, hidden for so long, could finally no longer conceal itself.
The isolating aura broke, and a rift was violently torn open.
Xing Fu could clearly see the image of a majestic, divine ring standing not far away.
The white circle seemed to stand tall within the Mountain and Sea. Though it appeared incredibly distant, it also felt extremely close.
It arrived in an instant, locking down and suppressing the Life and Death Realm.
But at this moment, the Five Fellow Calamity Venerables, and indeed all the beings in the Life and Death Realm, were no longer important.
All eyes were fixed on the nascent Mountain and Sea Great Dao.
Within the white circle, light and shadow flickered.
The Saints of the Other Shore manifested, their faces grave.
At the same time, a figure in a black dragon robe and a crown quietly descended upon the scene.
He sat alone on his imperial throne, a solitary figure.
Yet the pressure he exuded, so tangible it felt real, was no less than that of the Saints' phantoms.
The might of the Saints was like a torrential storm.
Although they had restrained it as much as possible, and it was diminished by their mutual checks and balances, it was still more than the beings here could bear.
The vast majority fainted the moment the Saints appeared.
The few who could remain conscious dared not look at the figures of the Saints.
They could only force their attention onto the Mountain and Sea Great Dao, which was already on the verge of disappearing.
It wasn't so much disappearing as it was being copied from nothingness, only to hide itself within the Mountain and Sea once more.
Xing Fu had a faint premonition that whether any of those present could control this Mountain and Sea Great Dao would be decided in the instant it descended.
"If it intends to hide..."
"I'm afraid not even a Saint would be able to find It."
Everyone held their breath, waiting for that moment.
Just as the lines of the yellow gemstone had completely dissolved, fully merging with the Mountain and Sea, the Tai Wei Saint Emperor suddenly let out a cold snort, commanded his throne, and vanished.
This act surprised even the Saints of the Other Shore.
"Still so proud."
The Saints' evaluation could be faintly heard from within the white circle.
The departure of the Tai Wei Saint Emperor did not affect the advent of the Mountain and Sea Great Dao.
A short while later, everyone present sensed a paradoxical aura—ancient and vast, yet newly born.
It flashed and was gone.
"The Dao Annihilation plundered the root of the Mountain and Sea, the key to its decline."
"The root of heaven and earth, giving birth to all things."
"This is the [Xuanpin] Dao!"
The voice boomed from the white ring of the Other Shore.
The speaker was none other than Shou Qiu Gong, the master of [Longevity]!
The Saints within the light and shadow were just about to make a move.
But this entire segment of the Mountain and Sea suddenly seemed to freeze.
An endless white mist surged forth from the void.
It enveloped the Mountain and Sea.
"Return to Truth!"
All living beings could only faintly hear a single voice, echoing from within the white mist.
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